Security Messages: Or, How I Learned to Stop Disregarding and Heed the Warning

Attacks on information security continue to be reported in the media, and result in large losses for organizations. While some attacks are the result of sophisticated threats, others can be traced to failures by organizational insiders to observe basic security policies such as using caution when opening unsolicited email attachments. Faced with the challenges and time demands of everyday stressors, security policy compliance can be costly for individuals; security actions require time and distract attention from other primary tasks. This costliness can lead individuals to ignore prompts to perform security updates, scan their computers for threats, or reboot their computers to apply security updates. This dissertation contains three studies that address the following overarching research question: How can end-user adherence to security messages be better understood and improved, and how can theory inform security-message design? First, two complementary studies are presented that examine the integration of media naturalness theory into a security message context using field study and fMRI designs. Study 1, the field study, unobtrusively captures objective measures of attention from Amazon Mechanical Turk users (N=510) as they perform a between-subjects deception protocol. Study 2, the fMRI study, examines neural activations from a within-subjects participant design (N=23) in response to different security message designs with integrated emotive human facial expressions. Data from studies 1 and 2 show that warnings with integrated facial expressions of threat (fear, disgust) generally elicited greater adherence rates and higher evidence of cognition and elaboration than did warnings with integrated neutral facial expressions or than did warnings with no integrated facial expressions, supporting our hypotheses. Study 3 explores the pattern of risk taking and analysis that users engage in when interacting with interruptive security messages. The corroboration of multiple behavioral dependent variables suggests that users predominantly use a bimodal risk tradeoff paradigm when interacting with interruptive security messages. All three studies address the overarching research question of understanding and improving end user adherence to security messages

Oxygen evolution from <i>Stylophora pistillata</i> corals during an LD cycle followed by 4 LL cycles under red, blue or green spectral light with a uniform light intensity of 50 µmol quanta m⁻² s⁻¹ (Each time point <i>N = 4</i>).

<p>Oxygen evolution from <i>Stylophora pistillata</i> corals during an LD cycle followed by 4 LL cycles under red, blue or green spectral light with a uniform light intensity of 50 µmol quanta m⁻² s⁻¹ (Each time point <i>N = 4</i>).</p

The distribution of melatonin immunoreactivity in <i>Nematostella vectensis</i> polyps.

<p>(A) Overlaid fluorescent and differential interference contrast (DIC) micrographs of a young adult polyp that was stained with a melatonin-specific antibody (red). Melatonin accumulation is noticeable in the tentacle tips (tn), mesenteries (mes) and actinopharynx (ph). Oral ring (or). (B–C) Confocal micrographs of melatonin immunoreactivity in <i>Nematostella</i> sections. Melatonin appears to be unevenly distributed throughout the layers (arrow) of the hypostomal body wall (retracted polyp), implying layer-specific differences in melatonin sources/targets (B, C). (D) Increased magnification of extensive melatonin accumulation in the outer surfaces of the endothelium in the actinopharynx folds (arrowheads in B). (E) The punctate immunoreactive pattern lining the external surfaces of the gonads suggests a reproductive role for melatonin. (F) Uniform melatonin immunoreactivity was detected in gonadal endodermal cells. (G-I) Melatonin immunoreactivity was observed within both endodermal and ectodermal cells in the body wall; the endodermal signals were generally stronger. Occasionally, melatonin accumulated at the base of the endoderm, implying an interaction with epithelial muscular cells (arrowhead). Scale bars: B = 200 µm; A, E = 100 µm; C, D, F, G = 20 µm; I = 10 µm; H = 5 µm.</p

The expression pattern of hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (<i>HIOMT</i>) mRNA in <i>Nematostella vectensis</i>.

<p>Two representative <i>HIOMT</i> orthologs were evaluated using in situ hybridization (ISH) with specific probes. (A–C) The <i>HIOMT</i> expression pattern was similar between orthologs and indicated that melatonin is predominantly produced in the circumference of the actinopharynx (ph). High <i>HIOMT</i> expression levels were also evident in the endodermal layer of the hypostome (retracted individual, B). A higher magnification image of the outer surface of the endothelium in the actinopharynx folds (C). (D, E) Substantial <i>HIOMT</i> expression in reproductive tissues suggested that the considerable level of the melatonin that is observed in these tissues (see Fig. 1E–F) is locally produced. A uniform <i>HIOMT</i> expression pattern was observed among the cells. (F, G) In the body wall, predominantly endodermal <i>HIOMT</i> expression was observed throughout the apical end of the anemone and was uniformly distributed throughout the cells. This pattern differed from the pattern of melatonin immunoreactivity (see Fig. 1B–C). Note that melatonin production occurs also in tentacles (tn), albeit at lower levels. Endoderm (en), ectoderm (ec). Scale bars: A = 200 µm; B, C = 100 µm; E, F = 50 µm; D, G = 20 µm.</p

Confocal colocalization of melatonin and the <i>Nematostella vectensis</i> neural network in adult polyps.

<p>(A) The distribution of melatonin immunoreactivity (red) generally corresponded with RFamide-expressing neurons (green). (B) Neuro-melatonin interactions were implied by specific colocalization (orange) along both the major longitudinal fasciculated neurite tracts and the minor inter-crossing neuronal pathways (arrowheads). (C) Melatonin distribution also paralleled the neural tracts in other areas of the <i>N. vectensis</i> neural net, such as the tentacles and the mesenterial endomesodermal cells that were proximate to the actinopharynx (arrowheads). (D, E) Confocal sections in the pharyngeal nerve ring area indicated neuro-melatonin associations. The asterisk denotes the oral pole. Scale bars: A = 500 µm; B, C-E = 200 µm.</p

Melatonin expression patterns in <i>Nematostella vectensis</i> developmental stages.

<p>Confocal sections of whole mounts indicated that melatonin is enriched near the area of invagination in the early gastrula stage (A) and at the oral and aboral poles during the late gastrula stage of the forming planulae (B). In swimming planulae (older larvae with an actinopharynx and developing mesenteries), melatonin exhibited a definite early preference for the actinopharynx and the apical tuft (at), both of which are highly neuralized components of the developing nerve net (C). By the 4-tentacle primary polyp stage (D, E), this preference extends to include other neural areas, such as the tentacle (tn) tips (arrowheads) and mesenteries (mes, arrowhead). The concentration of melatonin in the developed mesenteries is very clear in (E). The asterisks denote the oral poles. Scale bars: A-E = 50 µm.</p

Melatonin Distribution Reveals Clues to Its Biological Significance in Basal Metazoans

<div><p>Although nearly ubiquitous in nature, the precise biological significance of endogenous melatonin is poorly understood in phylogenetically basal taxa. In the present work, we describe insights into the functional role of melatonin at the most “basal” level of metazoan evolution. Hitherto unknown morphological determinants of melatonin distribution were evaluated in <em>Nematostella vectensis</em> by detecting melatonin immunoreactivity and examining the spatial gene expression patterns of putative melatonin biosynthetic and receptor elements that are located at opposing ends of the melatonin signaling pathway. Immuno-melatonin profiling indicated an elaborate interaction with reproductive tissues, reinforcing previous conjectures of a melatonin-responsive component in anthozoan reproduction. In situ hybridization (ISH) to putative melatonin receptor elements highlighted the possibility that the bioregulatory effects of melatonin in anthozoan reproduction may be mediated by interactions with membrane receptors, as in higher vertebrates. Another intriguing finding of the present study pertains to the prevalence of melatonin in centralized nervous structures. This pattern may be of great significance given that it 1) identifies an ancestral association between melatonin and key neuronal components and 2) potentially implies that certain effects of melatonin in basal species may be spread widely by regionalized nerve centers.</p> </div

Oxygen evolution during the LD cycle at 3 different light intensities followed by LL cycles.

<p>1) 100 µmol quanta m⁻² s⁻¹, 2) 75 µmol quanta m⁻² s⁻¹ and 3) 40 µmol quanta m⁻² s⁻¹. White bars indicate the light period, black bars the dark period and grey bars subjective darkness (Each time point <i>N = 4,</i> ±S.D.).</p

The diel periods length of oxygen evolution of cultured algae and <i>Stylophora pistillata</i> corals under different light spectra and intensities calculated using Fourier transform.

<p>The diel periods length of oxygen evolution of cultured algae and <i>Stylophora pistillata</i> corals under different light spectra and intensities calculated using Fourier transform.</p

Gene expression patterns of putative melatonin receptors in <i>Nematostella vectensis</i>.

<p>Two representative melatonin receptor orthologs were evaluated using in situ hybridization (ISH) with specific probes. (A, B) A similar expression pattern between orthologs in adult polyps was observed and indicated that the mRNA for the putative receptor was predominantly expressed in the circumference of the actinopharynx (ph) and at substantially lower levels in the hypostome. (C) Higher magnification of the actinopharynx area indicated that the melatonin receptors are also expressed in the inner epithelium (arrowhead); albeit at lower levels (D) Substantial melatonin receptor expression was evident in fertile gonads (peripheral surfaces of endodermal cells), implying a reproduction-related receptor-mediated mechanism of action for melatonin. (E, F) The expression of putative melatonin receptors in the body wall was predominantly characterized by an endodermal distribution but was also sporadically observed at lower levels in both ectodermal cells and in the epithelial muscular layer (arrowheads) at the base of the endoderm. Scale bars: A = 500 µm; B = 200 µm; C = 100 µm; D, E = 50 µm; F = 20 µm.</p